Chair having spring supported seat and back



Jan. 9, 1951 C, F, LUKlNs 2,537,071

CHAIR HAVING SPRING SUPPORTED SEAT AND BACK Filed July 50, 1945 l 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 JanQ 9, 1951 c. F. LuKlNs 2,537,071

CHAIR, HAVING SPRING SUPPORTED SEAT AND BACK Filed July 30, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 9, 1951 vu-rufrnl? ,STATES PAT ENT OFFICE CHAIR.HA.VING;SP,RING SUPPORTED SEAT AND BACK CharlesF; Lukins, Independence, Kans. kApp lita,tie,riuniy si, 1945, seriaiNo. 6075778;

3Glaimsz I This inventionA relates tov seating equipment, such as chairs, orotlierfartcles of'furniture4 for seating purposes, including seats for buses, railroad cars, airplanes and` other, transportational equipment.

One object is to provide an' advantageous and efcient springsusperlsion for seatingv equipment:

Another object is;r toprovide a spring suspension so arranged; that the' seating portion may' rise and fall asa'resultoj `the'- spring actiorrandin, response to the'. Weighton"`the`seatj withoutH substantial alteration in its' angle" o'fjinclination.

Another? obict* is; to: prox/ide a spring suspension for seating `equipmentwhich is arranged beneath Vthegseat and isv adapted to permit a" gen-n erallyV up' and? down"- movement of"` the seating portion whichis substantially free from tilting; regardless of the' weight offthe person' sittingv onthe"seati ng' -portion;

Otherl objectsu will appear Vfrom-V time to time throughout; the specificationy and-- claims.

'In-generalinspring,suspensions-loraspringefurf nituredesigned toN obtain or-permit a= rocking motion, thel `downwardflmovement of:V the; seat,

from thefweightiofthe occupant, is likelyto cause` anrundesirablev tilting-racitiomof vtlsieeseat :andgthus onthesoceupantz. Fonimany purposesethis: action.. is s unsatisfactory; and one ofi thes .objects ofthe.;

present;` invention is to2 make: such tilting; action or morefcross members 3; 3. The chair,` sofa or other article offrurniturevv orseating equipment comprises two /ormore side members IFI-joinedby-l slats or sideportionsef The seatf portionis Vsupportedi from thebase#r by two or= more springs-` which include' generally straight por-tions Ii` andl downwardlycurvedl` portions` 1f! Vwhich are fitted about andV secured'="to1\ cor-respondinglyv curved- 2f` Y portions 8 of the.- base members 2.Y The spring, portions 'I may terminate in members,-9,geach.o, f which is positioned beneath a foot portion I0y of.y a base member'and is secured theretoby screws,

. Ii or otherwise.

It will be noted-that. in thefvinactive position, as shownin Figure 2, inf particular,` the spr-ing; portion 'i is Vin partoutofcontact with the curved portion 8.0ithe base, 2,` Thispermits relativevv movement of ther two parts toward and from each other., Qn the rising movementrtherpqr-. tion I might move further-rout ovfconta0,t with.. the portion 8.*than aslindicated in Figure-52'.

The spring` portion 6 is.` integral with ora-t tachedto a curved spring portion I2 which, asf shown in Figure 2 in particular, is curvedinopposition to the portion 'Il Each spring portion`A I2 is secured-to abase-member 2by screws. Iscr otherwise. Thespringportion I2. may terminate at or near the upperA surfaceofY thev member. II.,

or mayA extend, as shown in the figures, beyond that member toserVe asasupportv for the arms. Thus a portion I4 is integralwith the portion; IZ'` and is secured to a member I5 which is itself.' secured to arms I6.

A member I'I'l may extend between the springj portions IllV and slats or backmembersy I 8f are secured to the portions l'a'nd` IT'by:s crewsgor boltsY I9 orotherwise. The arms I6 areusupported;

on the portionsv I 4' at their rear' and adjacent" theirL forward endsV are supported; on uprightmembers 2li which are providedrwith outwardly bent portions 2I. The' portions 2| f are fastened* to the arms IE-by screws 2-2` or otherwise.A At their lower ends-the members 20 are4 secured-by screws or bolts 23` tothe side'- members 4 of the: seat.

It isto be noticed that the-springs Whichsupporttheseat, `whethe'rvthe'latter be a po'rtionon` a chair or.: asofa or off some other@ articleV of? furniture, include generailyvfiatf diagonal' mem-.- bers terminating in twooppositely bent curvedends. The member Si, which is the generallyat portion, neednot be; absolutely nat; butfinthel` main it is preferablyvofl fla-t shapeand whether'r it is nat or not, theportions I2" and l are-.1oppo'. sitely curved or oppositely l disposed'. with respect to-each-other.

rEhe action ofJ the spring is illustratecl pawA ticularlyI in thediagramof- Eigure 3. las-shown in that diagram, the-spring is shownin full lines.` in the upright or unloaded position and detted linesin the depressed* or' loaded: position. 'Elie arrangen'ienti ofy the vparts 1 isvv such that the 2 seat portionwhenit `is.depressed as by reason` off a load, descends substantially vertically with little or no tilting action and the spring portion B swings downwardly and rearwardly with little or no distortion, and the main part of the distortion occurs in the spring portion 1. The curvature of this portion is increased under load and it moves more or less increasingly into contact with the curved surface of the base member 2. Thus the shape and disposition of the base member 2 corresponds with the spring action to guide, limit and to control it.

The use and operation of this invention are a follows:

Whenever the article of furniture or seating equipment to which the springs of the design shown herewith may be applied, the spring action will be generally as illustrated in the diagram Figure 3 and as described below. The spring in general comprises a generally straight, relatively unbending central portion. When this portion is referred to as unbending, I do not mean that it is rigid and cannot bend, but I mean primarily that because of the design, ordinarily most of the bending occurs at the end of the spring, particularly the lower end.

When the article of furniture which is supported by one or more of these springs is placed under load, as for example in use, the spring portion 6 tilts about a moving center which is defined by the contact of the portion l with the surface 8 of the base, and this point of contact moves rearwardly as shown in Figures 2 and 3 so that as the load is increased, the portion I bends and the point of contact of the portion I with the surface 8 moves upwardly and rearwardly.

During this time the portion 6 acts primarily as a lever. At the same time, some additional bending occurs in the portion l2 and thus the angular relationship of the base 2 and the seat portion 4 remains substantially undisturbed. If these portions are initially parallel, they remain substantially parallel as the springs are brought under load. If these portions are initially an-f gularly disposed with respect to each other, this angular relationship remains substantially unchanged as the springs are brought under load.

,When the load is removed, the springs rise primarily because the portions l tend somewhat to straighten out and tend definitely to move out ofcontact with the portions 8 so that the point of contact between the two moves downwardly and forwardly as seen in Figures 2 and 3.

Whereas in the drawings herein I have illustr-ated a seat with a base 2, it will be understood that no such separate base is essential, even though under many circumstances it may be desirable. For example, the lower ends 9 of the springs 6 could be removably or permanently secured to a car floor or to a portion of any transportational equipment with which the seat is used. It is also possible and practical to extendthe portions 9 rearwardly to take the 'place of the separate base portions 2. Thus the base portion in that event would be integral with the spring 6. It will be understood, therefore, that when in the claims I employ the term base I wish the term to be interpreted with suincient breadth to cover either a separate base element, such as is shown at 2, or an integral base portion of the springs 6 and their lower rearward extensions 9. i

Thus in Figure 4 the bottom spring portions 9a are illustrated, which may be cross connected at their rear ends. In Figure 5, I illustrate a further variation of the device, in which a true S-shape form of spring is employed, having an upper seat supporting portion 3i), a bottom ground engaging portion 3| and an intermediate reverse curved connecting portion 32, the springs at each side of the chair being suitably secured, for example at their upper end at 33 to the seat, and are rounded at their lower end, as at 34.

It will be understood, however, that the spring structure can be widely varied. In contrasting the form of Figure 5 with the forms of Figures 2 and 4, it will be noted that the seat extends forwardly from the spring structure, whereas in Figure 5 the seat portion lia rests on the upper bend of the spring structure.

I claim:

l. In combination in an article of seating equipment, a base, said base being formed of a pair of separated members, and means for `joining them, a seat, a back and a pair of arms, and means for supporting all of them yieldingly from said base, said means comprising a pair of independent springs having lower portions upwardly and rearwardly inclined, curved middle portions and upper portions rearwardly and upwardly inclined at a steeper inclination than the lower portions, said springs being secured at their lower ends to and in part extending about the forward ends of said base members, said seat being secured at its rear end to said springs intermediate their ends and extending forwardly therefrom, and said arms being secured t0 their springs above said seat and adiacent the upper ends of said springs.

2. In combination in an article of seating equipment, a base, said base being formed of a pair of separated members, and means for joining them, a seat, a back and a pair of arms, and

means for supporting all of them yieldingly from said base, said means comprising a pair 0f independent fiat springs having lower portions upwardly and rearwardly inclined, curved middle portions and upper portions rearwardly and upwardly inclined at a steeper inclination than the lower portions, said springs being secured at their lower ends to and in part extending about the forward ends of said base members, said seat being secured at its rear end to said springs intermediate their ends extending forwardly there.. from, and said arms being secured to their springs above said seat and adjacent the upper ends of said springs.

3. In combination in an article of seating equipment, a base, said base being formed of a pair of separated members, means for joining them, a seat, a back, and a pair of arms, and means for supporting all of them yieldingly from said base, said means comprising a pair of independent flat springs upwardly and rearwardly inclined from said base, said springs being secured at their lower ends to and in part extending about the forward ends of said base members, said seat being secured at its rear end to said springs intermediate their ends and extending forwardly therefrom, said springs being bent upwardly intermediate their ends to provide a curved portion substantially at the seat level, the rear end of the seat having portions curved to t said curved portions of the springs and intertting therewith, the springs beyond said curved portions including upright portions extending above the seat, and said arms and back being secured to the upright portions of the springs above said seat with the arms 5 6 disposed adjacent to the upper ends of said Number Name Date springs. V1,074,012 Pollard Sept. 23, 1913 CHARLES F. LUKINS. 1,626,161 Sherred Apr. 26, 1927 1,962,464 Richsteig June 12, 1934 REFERENCES CITED 5 2,006,422 Trainor May 18, 1935 The following references are of record in the 0801607 Galante May 13 1937 me of this pali-lent; 2,084,310 Breuer June 22, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS Number Name Date w Number Country Date 172,040 Lemman Jan. 11, 1876 80,224 Sweden Apr. 24, 1934 481,582 McDonough Aug. 30, 1892 166,443 Switzerland Mar. 1, 1934 581,762 Neuens May 4, 1897 407,221 Great Britain Mar. 15, 1934 593,068 Hulse Nov. 2, 1897 689,756 France June 2, 1930 601,573 Long Mar. 29, 1898 15 

